In my world tigers eat leaves

Selected poems

Sky

Stars, a mystical thingTwinkle, twinkle they shineLike the eye of a mischievous childWith a secretLike the spitting flames of a camp fireIn the dead of nightLike the shine of water in late afternoonLike the jewels on the lady's neckYou saw striding down the street today

Clouds, a miraculous objectMoving, blowingThey come togetherThey run away againLike a special game only clouds can playThey block out the blinding sunOn overcast daysAnd when not thereThey make the dayLook so glamorously clear of everythingYou are forced to stop and admire it

I start on a crunchy banh miWeaving in and out of the busy trafficThe traffic flows with me, trusting meI trust itIt leaves me to eat in peaceMy teeth crunch past the warm rollReaching the tender, soft porkMoving on to the perfectly cooked eggThe yolk exploding in my mouthFresh green lettuce tips the scalesAnd balances everything out.

I pull the cheesy strings of my pizzaStretching them on for milesStarting at the tip and working my wayTo the crustWhile expressive conversationsAnd kegs of wine arePassed around the room.

All around the world there are culturesAnd languages, trtaditions and dressAnd always good food.

— Arkie Barrett (age 12)

The fig tree

Down at the bottom of the paddockThere stands an old fig treeI can see it from the window in the atticAnd I know where I long to beSometimes I like to watch the ripples on the lakeSometimes I like to meditateUp in my fig tree in my own little worldI like to look at all the branchesCurled in their most peculiar wayImagining, from my own world up in my fig tree,The next cake I'm going to bake,Asking what my clay is going to make.When I'm in the tree aloneI know where I belong.

— Pepa White (age 10)

Beware the wild world

Hey, wait, what's that I hear?With my left earYou want to sail the world, you say?If you do, you will pay.From far and wide, monsters lurkFrom the Comadoro lashingTo the little flurkBeware the wild world.

No, no, don't go to the Isle of Low,Where rivers of acid flowThe monstrous sharglich is foundUnder the isle's ground.It jumps from the dunesWith its poison harpoonThen it will spear you throughTill you're nothing but goo.Beware the wide world.

What about CutooOn the Isle of Loo?Where the bumbaling unblings ruleWho eat meaty, muddy gruelThey will hunt youThen put you in stewBeware the wild world.

This is why you should not goOn your journey high and lowBeware the wild world.

— Hector Hennessy (age 12)

The eagle

The eagle soars above the worldHis keen eyesight catching every detailThe trees waving in the windThe shrubs, trodden downBy the animalsThe highest peaks being beatenBy the rainHe sees animalsRabbits running into their holesDeer cropping the grassKoalas sleeping in their treesHe sees the city in the distanceThe tall skyscrapersGlistening wet with the rainPlanes flying high into the airCars driving along the roadsHe hears the birdsCalling to each otherThe gunshots of a hunterA bushfireHe is gone.

— Red Durad (age 12)

My world

My world has tigers and birdsMy world is full of trees that have nests made of woolMy world has lilypads floating in the skyMy world is special.

In my world the tigers eat leaves and play with sticksIn my world the birds don't fly, they swim.In my world there is no ground, only water.In my world it is different.I love my world.

— Gracie Myers (age 9)

These seven poems were written by students of the Fitzroy Community School in Melbourne. They were among the many submitted to the Dorothea MacKellar Poetry Awards, the oldest and largest annual national poetry competition in Australia. This year's subject was 'All Over the World'.

Recent articles by Fitzroy Community School students.

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